Before going to Thailand, I was ignorant of Indo-Chinese in the same way that I found that many Americans were ignorant of any essential difference between Japanese and Chinese. I guess I also thought of Indo-Chinese as some kind of variant of Chinese. I was quite surprised when I arrived in Bangkok in 1986 and although I found a lot of East Asian trappings, I realized very quickly that Thai culture was completely different from the East Asian culture I was used to. And not that the fact of this difference really took me by surprise; What’s more, I had no idea what Thai culture was and it was a whole new world for me, full of wonders, friendly people, swindlers and bad looking soldiers.

I want to do without scammers from the start. Thailand seems to have more than its fair share even now, as the nation becomes more prosperous. But to be fair, there seemed to be fewer scammers when I was there in the mid-1980s, even though Thailand was a much poorer country than it is now. Maybe they just didn’t know that tourists mean a lot of money. In any case, scammers are prolific in any country that is poorer relative to the tourists it hosts. This is true all over the world and Thailand is no exception.

I guess what I liked most about the Thai people was their lack of formality, their honesty, their happy laughter and their nonchalance. Mai pen rai may now be a cliche Thaiism, but I remember a clear don’t care attitude when I was there. And I remember that between strangers the Thais were more than willing to build an ad hoc relationship. I remember the time I walked into a pharmacy to buy some prickly heat powder, and the woman pointed to my face, laughed, and said, You didn’t shave (I hadn’t). I remember the high school boy from boarding school on the night bus who fell asleep on my chest like I was his brother or something (what was I going to do, push him?). And I remember the pretty lady at the ship’s ticket booth who looked me right in the face, she smiled and said, You’re a handsome man (she wasn’t flirting, just watching). Similarly, I remember an attractive girl from the vegetable market who suddenly grabbed my arm and said, “You buy.” It doesn’t make sense, just Thai-style high-pressure sales.

But Thais seem to be more professional and less trusting these days. May feather rai.